Reading the Mind of Your Market

When developing a product or service, it must be assumed that you’ve done your homework. At this point, you should have determined what people are searching for, what thoughts they have when they are searching, and the many ways in which they think while searching. But if you think that’s it, you’re dead wrong. Lucky for you, this most important concept is overlooked by most marketers, but we’re going to lay it out for you here. As with any internet-based business or product, you need a strong, competitive edge.
You literally need to be able to read the mind of your market. Believe it or not, that isn’t so hard to do - you just need to understand how to do it. This concept is known as multi-dimensional keyword research. And it will, literally, enable you to predict how people will perform searches in the future.

Preliminary Legwork
Introducing the concept of multi-dimensional research assumes that you’ve done the
preliminary legwork of research associated with your product or service. This would
include:

Standard Keyword Research
A general indication of how many times your generalized keyword (such as weight loss) was searched for.

Vertical Research
A more in-depth look at the types of "end-use" terms used in conjunction with your
generalized keyword (such as weight loss pills, weight loss diets, weight loss surgery, etc.).

Horizontal Research
Horizontal research will expand your generalized term into the variety of alternate terms associated with your general keyword (such as Atkins Diet, low carb diet, losing
weight, weight loss pills, etc.). After performing the above research, you should have an amazing list of search terms. But, in reality, what are these terms telling you? It’s no secret that, when done correctly, the above types of keyword research will produce thousands upon thousands of results. Unfortunately, many marketers stop at this point, and attempt to determine their target market based off of this information. When they do this, they are wasting valuable time and energy targeting consumers who WILLNEVER BUY THEIR PRODUCT.

The Secret to Hitting the Bulls Eye
Here’s where we get into the meat of it. Any successful, savvy marketer will tell you that
while the three methods of research described above are essential, they are merely scratching the surface. Hidden within are the hungry consumers; previously ignored and
uncaptured, these consumers are ready, willing and able to purchase your product or service. The secret is how to find out specifically who they are, and how to reach them.
Believe it or not, it can be summed up in one simple sentence...

You need to think like your market.
We know you’re thinking that isn’t anything new. However, there is an enormous difference in thinking as your target market actually thinks and thinking like you expect
your target market to think. You need to be in the shoes of your consumer, and begin to think as they do. And in this process, you should make lots and lots of lists.
For example, referring back to the weight loss analogy, we could look at the variety of popular diets available (Atkins Diet, Green Tea Diet, South Beach Diet, etc.). We could include the many types of diet pills available (Ally, 72 Hour Slimming Pill, HydroxyCut, etc.). You could build upon this further, with fitness equipment, exercise regimens…the list goes on. When you come at your topic from a wide variety of angles, you will immediate see the endless possibilities. But you may be asking yourself "WHERE do I find all of this information?"

Finding Hidden Resources
As we are all aware, the Internet is an invaluable resource. But to truly locate a plethora of useful information, you need to think outside of the box a bit.
Wikipedia, as an example, has a wonderful compilation of lists. If you were to go to Wikipedia and type in "list of diets", you will notice a nice, long list of popular diet programs. Simply copy, paste and clean up the text, and your multi-dimensional list has
begun. You can continue to build your list by doing a Google search with the terms "list of (your topic)", and continue building your multidimensional research. You want to keep in mind that you need to stick to your main search term, without any "extra" keywords.
Once you have a nice, long list compiled, make sure to remove any apostrophes, extra
characters and the like, and that's it - you have a targeted list from which to delve into your multi-dimensional research. But you aren't done yet...
You will now take these lists, and narrow them even further. By using one of the many, lowcost keyword research tools available on the Internet (just remember, however, they are NOT all created equal!), you will import your new list, and research the terms.
A good keyword research tool will provide you with valuable information, such as how many searches per day are conducted per term, enabling you to determine their relevance and popularity. With your new list, you'll take this one step further. You'll begin combining your terms (again using the example of 'diet plans'), to create even more relevant terms, such as "diet program", "fat burning", "South Beach diet program", etc. This can, however, be a long and laborious task to do manually. Again, there are many inexpensive tools available on the Internet which can save you lots of valuable time, and perform this task for you much quicker and efficiently. Once this list is complete, you will need to return to your keyword research tool, and import your new
terms.

Predicting the Future
The end result, regardless of the method used, should be a core list of the top 500 relevant, highly searched terms relating to your market.
This list should be extremely focused towards your target market, informing you of the top terms that are relevant in the minds of your consumers.
Armed with this multi-dimensional research, you have a powerful method of effectively and profitably reaching your target market, and converting consumers to customers.
To learn more about this powerful and profitable method of targeting customers, please visit our site later for more info.